Africa is highly diverse in its economic, social and political structures. But the continent’s countries share common characteristics and face similar challenges, such as low levels of socio-economic development, high vulnerability to risks and persistent gender inequality. Africa also remains...

Historically, mental health has been neglected on Africa’s health and development policy agenda. Faced with many challenges – including intractable poverty, infectious diseases, maternal and child mortality, and conflict – African political leaders and international development agencies frequently overlook the...

As a South African, I have witnessed many of the changes that have taken place since the end of apartheid. I also contributed to that transition, principally through supporting and strengthening our new local government system in South Africa after...

“Sufficient engineering capacity is essential to the economic and social development of any country. It is a basic requirement for the provision of infrastructure that enables better healthcare, access to education and the development of an attractive environment for foreign...

John Lennon once said, ‘A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is a reality’. Never did these words ring more true than for Africa’s Great Green Wall, a collaborative initiative built on unity...

Improving timely access to drugs for all patients in Africa 1.0 Introduction At present, drug approval processes in African countries operate separately and each country prioritizes its own processes, except in a few regions that have embraced harmonized processes i.e....

The Third India-Africa Forum Summit, held in New Delhi in October 2015, announced ambitious programmes for development of cooperation between Africa and India. Health is a major sector for such a partnership. The Indian Prime Minister, in his final statement...

Like many people my, age I carry a small childhood scar on my left shoulder, an indication that I was once vaccinated against smallpox. In the villages of Tanzania, such scars used to act as a form of branding, a...

The size and scale of the 2014-16 West African Ebola epidemic sent shockwaves throughout the world. In late summer 2014, television screens beamed disturbing images of people dying in the streets and desperate health workers pleading for more help. Yet...

When the United States and the international community mounted a response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, we saw a dramatic reduction in new cases. Liberia and Sierra Leone are close to zero, and cases continue to drop in...

Since the turn of the millennium, Africa has experienced a steady and unprecedented economic growth. However, poverty continues for people across the continent, especially in the sub-Saharan region. Unemployment and inequality have remained high. The rural population and the urban...

Africa has a wealth of natural resources and investment potential that it can harness to boost economic growth and transform the lives of its people. From oil and gas resources to mineral deposits to arable land, the opportunities are endless....

Exceeding the global average in past years with an expectation to further accelerate, Africa is experiencing unprecedented economic growth. Foreign trade contributes considerably to the sustainable development of the continent’s economies. The opening up of trade in a multilateral trading...

By 2050, Africa’s collective labour force will be bigger than that of China or India. Creating jobs for hundreds of millions of young labour market entrants will mean the difference between realizing a demographic dividend and risking a social time...

Africa presently reels under serious water challenges. Water-based challenges such as widespread shortage, pollution, degradation, flooding and poor water management in cities and rural centres are problems which dot the African landscape today. This state of affairs is further compounded...

The diffusion of Modern Energy Technologies (MET) in Africa has been found to be very low especially for solar energy systems. The installed solar PV capacity in Africa is a major issue of concern globally. This low trend in technology...

Smart cities are on everyone’s lips. This development is understandable given that the last decade saw the momentous point in the history of our planet when more people lived in cities than in the countryside. Ever more people around the...

On June 30, 2013, in Cape Town, South Africa, US President Barack Obama announced Power Africa ‒ an initiative to bring together technical and legal experts, the private sector and governments from around the world to work in partnership to...